53 pages • 1 hour read
David Wallace-WellsThe Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
According to the author’s argument, in what ways are the consequences of climate change already here? What impact has post-Industrial climate change already had on meteorological phenomena, political systems, and social cohesion?
How would Wallace-Wells respond to either an outright climate change denier or one who is skeptical that climate change is the result of human activity? What pieces of evidence would he provide to make a compelling argument, and what philosophical observations would he use to buttress this argument?
What does Wallace-Wells mean when he calls climate change a political crisis rather than a natural crisis? What evidence does he provide to support his argument that political action—more than technological progress and shifts in consumer behavior—is the most powerful tool for combating climate change?
How does Wallace-Wells contradict the notion that efforts to combat climate change constitute a trade-off with economic growth? How does the economic impact of climate change stand to outweigh the loss of market value due to reduced emissions or a transition to a carbon-neutral, sustainable economy?
In what ways can climate change lead to violent political upheavals? Beginning with ancient civilizations all the way up to the present day, what examples does Wallace-Wells cite to support this view? Do you find his argument convincing?
How does Wallace-Wells believe climate change will alter people’s perception of capitalism? How will climate change accentuate existing inequalities that the author attributes to capitalism? What are the various kinds of economic systems he believes may arise out of a climate-ravaged world?
What do you make of the author’s argument that the entirety of human progress since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution is owed to fossil fuels? Do you find this argument convincing? What kinds of counter-arguments would you make to this theory?
What is the author’s view of the technology community with respect to climate change? With only a couple of exceptions, why does he believe Silicon Valley is ill-suited to address the challenge of global warming?
Wallace-Wells argues that in the fight against climate change, voting has a far greater impact than, say, eating organic or making other conscientious choices as a consumer. Do you find this assertion convincing? Why or why not?
How would you characterize Wallace-Wells’s overall attitude toward climate change? In what ways is he alarmed? In what ways is he optimistic? How does he balance these two competing attitudes?
